TRAPPER FOR HIRE

Trapping feral cats is part art, part science. Add to the equation experience and the best equipment and you'll most likely enjoy success.

To help fund our Barn Cat program, I offer to the community trapping services on a "per cat" or "per colony" basis. I will spend the maximum of five days trapping a feral cat on your property for $50. If a large colony is involved, the price will be less per cat.

What happens once a cat is trapped? There are three options:

1. "TNR" or "Trap/Neuter/Return" An approach gaining great favor across the nation, TNR simply means that a cat is trapped, neutered (or spayed in the case of a female) and returned to the original location BUT ONLY if food is provided on a regular basis. Once an entire colony is TNR'd and are fed regularly, they earn the status of a "managed colony." I personally manage a small colony at the El Dorado County Fairgrounds. All of the cats have been neutered and returned, and I feed them on a daily basis. I know of several other colonies in the area where people make an effort to watch over the cats and take in newcomers to be neutered. The primary goal of a managed colony is that no new kittens are born and, eventually, the overall number decreases due to natural attrition.
   
   In addition to the trapping fee, the property owner is responsible for the cost of neutering ($25 for a male, $35 for a female). Vaccines and deworming, while desirable, are optional. Animal Outreach will notch the cat's ear for tracking purposes and apply a dose of flea medication for free.
   
   
2. Entry into the Barn Cat Program I have a limited number of spaces within the Barn Cat program and will take in as many cats as I can. We have placed more than 300 Barn Cats in the past year with owners of farms, ranches, vineyards and equestrian centers. Again, the property owner covers the cost of spaying/neutering the trapped cats; in the case of cats brought into the Barn Cat program, Animal Outreach covers the costs of vaccines, blood work, microchipping, ear flushing and deworming prior to the placement. For large colonies, we make reach an agreement with the property owner where he/she will take back five cats out of a colony of 10, and we will take five cats (half the number of total cats trapped) into the Barn Cat program to be placed elsewhere.
   
   
3. Extermination I list "extermination" here as an option but it is one I do not take part in UNLESS the cats are diseased or starving and it is an act of mercy to have them put down. Private professional exterminators do exist. The County of El Dorado Animal Services may get involved in extreme cases but routinely does not take part in trapping and eliminating "nuisance" animals such as feral cats. They will loan traps and destroy the feral cats if brought to the shelter during regular business hours.